For the first time since its national championship in 2017, South Carolina is headed back to the women’s Final Four after holding Texas scoreless in the fourth quarter, smacking the Longhorns 62-34.
Tuesday night’s Elite Eight matchup featured a battle between the potential No. 1 WNBA draft picks for 2021 and 2023—Longhorns’ junior Charli Collier, who’s already declared for the 2021 draft, and Gamecocks’ sophomore Aliyah Boston. However, Collier only scored four points while Boston tallied 10 with eight rebounds.
Five different players scored in double figures for No. 1 seeded South Carolina, who never trailed against its old SEC rival and current Longhorns coach, Vic Schaefer.
The majority of the Gamecocks’ points came from in the paint, making 27 of their 57 attempts. They blocked over a dozen shots and tallied a total of 47 rebounds (37 defensive). They held Texas to just 23% from the field—and no points in the fourth quarter.
South Carolina will face the winner of Stanford—Louisville.
In their victory, head coach Dawn Staley honored the late John Thompson on Tuesday night by sporting a shirt with his image.
SI’s tournament newsletter analyzes everything you need to know about the Big Dance: what just happened and what’s happening next. Sign up for Morning Madness here.
